A detailed comparison of the adsorption behavior of long straight chain saturated and unsaturated fatty acids at the iron oxide/oil interface has been considered using a combination of surface study techniques. Both depletion isotherms and polarized neutron reflectometry (PNR) show that the extent of adsorption decreases as the number of double bonds in the alkyl chains increases. Sum frequency generation spectroscopic measurements demonstrate that there is also an increase in chain disorder within the adsorbed layer as the unsaturation increases. However, for the unsaturated analogues, a decrease in peak intensity is seen for the double bond peak upon heating, which is thought to arise from isomerization in the surface-bound layer. The PNR study of oleic acid adsorption indicates chemisorbed monolayer adsorption, with a further diffuse reversible adsorbed layer formed at higher concentrations.
The
adsorption behavior of a model additive, hexadecylamine, onto
an iron surface from hexadecane oil has been characterized using polarized
neutron reflectometry, sum-frequency generation spectroscopy, solution
depletion isotherm, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The
amine showed a strong affinity for the metal surface, forming a dense
monolayer at relatively low concentrations; a layer thickness of 16
(±3) Å at low concentrations, increasing to 20 (±3)
Å at greater amine concentrations, was determined from the neutron
data. These thicknesses suggest that the molecules in the layer are
tilted. Adsorption was also indicated by sum-frequency generation
spectroscopy and XPS, the latter indicating that the most dominant
amine–surface interaction was via electron donation from the
nitrogen lone pair to the positively charged iron ions. Sum-frequency
generation spectroscopy was used to determine the alkyl chain conformation
order and orientation on the surface.
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